I am starting a portion of my lawn over again. I have loosened up the
soil, fertilized,
and seeded. I now have placed hay all over. Is is necessary to
continue to water when
using hay? (so far no results!)

water, water, water

"SCR" wrote in message
...
I am starting a portion of my lawn over again. I have loosened up the
soil, fertilized,
and seeded. I now have placed hay all over. Is is necessary to
continue to water when
using hay? (so far no results!)

SCR wrote:
I am starting a portion of my lawn over again. I have loosened up
the soil, fertilized, and seeded. I now have placed hay all over.
Is is necessary to continue to water when using hay? (so far no
results!)

A newly-seeded lawn shouldn't be "watered" (an inch a week) -- it should
be constantly moist. The first couple of weeks after seeding, you should
sprinkle it at *least* daily, preferably more. If the dirt looks dry,
it's too dry. If the dirt doesn't look dry, check with a knife; it might
still be too dry (crumbly).

When you see seedlings, you can back off gradually.

SCR wrote:
I am starting a portion of my lawn over again. I have loosened up the
soil, fertilized,
and seeded. I now have placed hay all over. Is is necessary to
continue to water when
using hay? (so far no results!)

Sprinkle lightly every day. The top 1/8" (about 2 mm) of soil must remain
moist. This means you can't put down 1/2" to 1" of water once a week. It
is difficult to keep that top 1/8" moist without daily water, and in
hot/sunny/dry conditions, twice a day may be necessary. Once it sprouts,
you can back off some.

Austin

That grass is never going to grow.
This is the WORST time to plant seed. Fall is the best time, then spring,
but NEVER in the dead heat of summer.
How well did you loosen up the soil? And what kind of fertilizer did you
apply? You shouldn't have done that. Any kind of fertilizer with a weed
killer in it such as "weed n feed" and the grass won't germinate.
Grass seeds ALWAYS need to be kept moist. You must water the seed every
day. I wouldn't have covered with hay, I would have covered with a product
called "penn mulch" instead.
What type of grass seed did you plant anyway?


"SCR" wrote in message
...
I am starting a portion of my lawn over again. I have loosened up the
soil, fertilized,
and seeded. I now have placed hay all over. Is is necessary to
continue to water when
using hay? (so far no results!)

Probably wrote:


"SCR" wrote in message
...

I am starting a portion of my lawn over again. I have loosened up the
soil, fertilized,
and seeded. I now have placed hay all over. Is is necessary to
continue to water when
using hay? (so far no results!)





That grass is never going to grow.
This is the WORST time to plant seed. Fall is the best time, then
spring,
but NEVER in the dead heat of summer.
How well did you loosen up the soil? And what kind of fertilizer did you
apply? You shouldn't have done that. Any kind of fertilizer with a weed
killer in it such as "weed n feed" and the grass won't germinate.
Grass seeds ALWAYS need to be kept moist. You must water the seed every
day. I wouldn't have covered with hay, I would have covered with a
product
called "penn mulch" instead.
What type of grass seed did you plant anyway?


I plant grass seed in the summer all the time. As long as you keep it
wet, water deeply every morning before 11:00 am for about 2 weeks, and
the grass will come. I am in Iowa so I guess the local weather would be
a huge factor in success or failure. Iowa versus the Arizona desert or
Florida.
It really is best to plant in the spring or, better yet, fall because it
just needs less babysitting.
And hay works fine and is cheaper than the manufactured mulch, but is
harder to manage. If cost is not a factor, then the manufactured mulch
is preferrable as "Probably" suggested.
And, if you fert., use a plain starter fert. DO NOT use weed and feed.

GFRfan wrote in message news:QL8Sc.282313$XM6.11416@attbi_s53...
Probably wrote:


"SCR" wrote in message
...

I am starting a portion of my lawn over again. I have loosened up the
soil, fertilized,
and seeded. I now have placed hay all over. Is is necessary to
continue to water when
using hay? (so far no results!)





That grass is never going to grow.
This is the WORST time to plant seed. Fall is the best time, then
spring,
but NEVER in the dead heat of summer.
How well did you loosen up the soil? And what kind of fertilizer did you
apply? You shouldn't have done that. Any kind of fertilizer with a weed
killer in it such as "weed n feed" and the grass won't germinate.
Grass seeds ALWAYS need to be kept moist. You must water the seed every
day. I wouldn't have covered with hay, I would have covered with a
product
called "penn mulch" instead.
What type of grass seed did you plant anyway?


I plant grass seed in the summer all the time. As long as you keep it
wet, water deeply every morning before 11:00 am for about 2 weeks, and
the grass will come. I am in Iowa so I guess the local weather would be
a huge factor in success or failure. Iowa versus the Arizona desert or
Florida.
It really is best to plant in the spring or, better yet, fall because it
just needs less babysitting.
And hay works fine and is cheaper than the manufactured mulch, but is
harder to manage. If cost is not a factor, then the manufactured mulch
is preferrable as "Probably" suggested.
And, if you fert., use a plain starter fert. DO NOT use weed and feed.


You can plant grass in summer, just like you can go to the beach in
January, but neither is advisable. Summer requires a lot of water,
there is intense competition from weeds, and cool season grasses like
fescues and blue grass don't like to grow in high temps. In another
month, it will be the optimum time to seed, so why do it now?

Watering deeply once a day is not what seed needs. The surface
should be kept constantly wet, which usually means watering it several
times a day lightly when temps are high, which is one reason why
summer is the worst time. A quarter inch 4 times a day is what it
needs, not an inch once a day. Also, hay generally has weed seeds
present, so I'd avoid using it. Peat moss or weed free straw are
preferable.

Chet Hayes wrote:

You can plant grass in summer, just like you can go to the beach in
January, but neither is advisable.

You know, some people need to realize that the internet is global. Nothing
wrong with going to the beach in January if you're in Australia. And
nothing wrong with planting grass in summer if you're in Greenland. Neither
you nor Probably know (because he didn't tell us) where the original poster
is or what zone he is in (if in the US). I'm in Minnesota, and although
it's not typical, the high here yesterday was 57 degrees F (14 Deg. C).
That's not too hot for planting grass.

Austin

In article ,
AustinMN wrote:
Chet Hayes wrote:

You can plant grass in summer, just like you can go to the beach in
January, but neither is advisable.

You know, some people need to realize that the internet is global. Nothing
wrong with going to the beach in January if you're in Australia. And
nothing wrong with planting grass in summer if you're in Greenland. Neither
you nor Probably know (because he didn't tell us) where the original poster
is or what zone he is in (if in the US). I'm in Minnesota, and although
it's not typical, the high here yesterday was 57 degrees F (14 Deg. C).

In fact, the original poster's email address (downeast.net) suggests
that he lives in upstate Maine (in the Bangor or Bar Harbor area).
The average high temperature in August is about 78 in that area.
That's maybe a little warmer than ideal for growing grass, but not
much.

I planted yesterday (Aug 12) because the forecast is for cool weather and I
have irrigation. I plan to seed again in Sept in the areas that did not
come in well.

I find that planting in the fall leads to far fewer weeds. When I plant in
the spring, I get weeds everywhere.

Can anyone tell me why fewer weeds in the fall ? Is this my imagination ?


HtH

"Heidi the Horrible" wrote:
Can anyone tell me why fewer weeds in the fall ? Is this my imagination
?

HtH

Short answer: annual weeds don't germinate in the fall, they prefer spring.

"Heidi the Horrible" wrote:
I planted yesterday (Aug 12) because the forecast is for cool weather and
I have irrigation. I plan to seed again in Sept in the areas that did
not come in well.

Which blend did you plant, Horrible?

"Steveo" wrote in message
...
"Heidi the Horrible" wrote:
I planted yesterday (Aug 12) because the forecast is for cool weather
and
I have irrigation. I plan to seed again in Sept in the areas that did
not come in well.

Which blend did you plant, Horrible?

It's Ms. Horrible, puhleeze.

Mix of Turf-type tall fescue varieties with some bluegrass in the sun and
for the shade I did a mix of hard, chewing and creeping reds.

HtH

"AustinMN" wrote in message ...
Chet Hayes wrote:

You can plant grass in summer, just like you can go to the beach in
January, but neither is advisable.

You know, some people need to realize that the internet is global. Nothing
wrong with going to the beach in January if you're in Australia. And
nothing wrong with planting grass in summer if you're in Greenland. Neither
you nor Probably know (because he didn't tell us) where the original poster
is or what zone he is in (if in the US). I'm in Minnesota, and although
it's not typical, the high here yesterday was 57 degrees F (14 Deg. C).
That's not too hot for planting grass.

Austin


Let's not forget that in the southern states of the US we grow different types of grass. Bermuda grows best between 90 and 100
degrees F. ...best time to plant is during the beginning of summer. ...don't do that with Northern grass types, however.

"AustinMN" wrote in message ...
Chet Hayes wrote:

You can plant grass in summer, just like you can go to the beach in
January, but neither is advisable.

You know, some people need to realize that the internet is global. Nothing
wrong with going to the beach in January if you're in Australia. And
nothing wrong with planting grass in summer if you're in Greenland. Neither
you nor Probably know (because he didn't tell us) where the original poster
is or what zone he is in (if in the US). I'm in Minnesota, and although
it's not typical, the high here yesterday was 57 degrees F (14 Deg. C).
That's not too hot for planting grass.

Austin

Yes, and others need to realize they don't know much about growing
grass period. Higher temperatures are just one issue with trying to
grow grass in summer. Another is major competition from weeds, which
greatly diminishes in fall.